silver balloons
by Immoroita
Summary: as the balloons flew into the bright blue sky, the diamond dust girl wept bitter tears of loss.— volkner x candice


**where was i when the rockets came to life**  
_(and carried you away into the alligator sky)_

. . .

it was only fitting that he die in sunyshore city.

as the battle raged on in the rest of the region, a girl with raven hair fell to her knees next to the body of a dying man, sobs choking up her throat. clumsily, her hand fumbled with his and their fingers intertwined, pearly tears falling thick and fast onto his face. the girl's other hand brushed a lock of hair back, out of his face.

volkner opened his eyes weakly to look up at her face and smiled a little. "well, well, well. i knew you'd come running back to me."

"shut up," she said bitterly, laughing through her tears. "you know i regret leaving you, don't you?"

he nodded in a miniscule motion and winced in pain, his grip on her hand tightening, as the poison began to take hold of his body. candice's breath hitched in her throat as her eyes roamed around his face, drinking his every feature in. she took his head in her hands and began to speak hurriedly, in a low, comforting voice. "hey, volkner... remember? after the war, we were going to retire and live happily ever after. remember?"

the ghost of a laugh appeared on the blonde's lips. "hah. we're not old enough to retire, candice."

"_you_ are," the pale-skinned girl joked weakly, leaning down and touching her forehead to his. "you're way older than i am."

(not old enough to die yet. not nearly old enough.)

"i love you," volkner whispered quietly, so quietly that even candice could barely hear him.

"i love you too," she returned softly, and pressed her lips against his gently just as he breathed his last, and she felt the life ebb away from him as she pulled away slowly and tears dripped down her nose onto his face, which was empty, empty, empty.

**. . .**

they won the war, but candice hardly noticed.

**. . .**

pale fingers nimbly tied a piece of string around a note, formerly cheerful eyes staring dully down. silver balloons were due to be launched at four p.m. sinnoh time that day, in honor of those lost in the war, messages from their loved ones written on the notes tied to the balloon strings.

candice took up another balloon, and another, until there were five balloons all tied to the same note. then she slipped something up inside the rolled-up paper and exhaled heavily, a knot forming in her throat at the thought of why exactly she was letting the balloons fly into the sky.

_that was three months ago, candice. it's high time you learned to let go... what was there ever to be gained by dwelling on the past?_

she was releasing the balloons in his city. it just felt right that way.

the clock in sunyshore city chimed.

once.

twice.

thrice.

release.

the ice-type gym leader leaned out the window and watched as the balloons spiraled off into the air, following their trail with her eyes. all around her, more silver balloons were being sent off into the sky. and across sinnoh, as well, balloons were surely making their way into the clouds.

as the balloons flew into the bright blue sky, the diamond dust girl wept bitter tears of loss.

**. . .**

three years afterwards, when peace fell over the land, a lone hiker in unova looked up to see something drifting slowly from the sky. it was what appeared to be a piece of paper tied to a balloon.

he grabbed it out of the air and undid the string tying it up with shaky, cold fingers that had seen no sunlight for several days, tossing aside the balloon with no idea of the significance it had.

inside the paper was a rusty piece of metal shaped a little like a lighthouse. the hiker turned it over and over in his hands in wonder a few times, thoughts wandering off to where it could have come from. a few minutes later he thought to check the piece of paper.

the faded out sentence written in pencil was hard to make out.

_for my shining, shocking star._

**. . .**

**author's note: **reviews are appreciated!

also, just so everybody knows, the beacon badge – that's the gym badge you get from volkner's gym – is shaped like a lighthouse.


End file.
